Prime mover sheds light on taijiquan mystery

Chen Xiaowang has been teaching and promoting taijiquan since the 1990s. His fighting style was developed by his family 19 generations ago. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, he established his own core ideological and theoretical system.

“Support for taijiquan development became evident in the 1980s,” Chen recalls, adding that many martial arts competitions were staged in which he won championships or was invited to give taijiquan demonstrations.

Over the years, Chen has instructed more than 300,000 disciples in 80 countries.

He proposes to implement the philosophical thought of yin and yang on mental balance and stresses that goal of practicing Taijiquan properly is to cultivate one’s moral character.

“Taijiquan requires its practitioners to be upright and peaceful and act from the perspective of others, which reflects Confucianism’s emphasis on self-cultivation and benevolence,” Chen explains.

“It’s both a combat strategy and an expression of strength and confidence,” he adds.

Moreover, the martial art advocates using gentleness to overcome toughness and utilizing weakness to conquer strength through one’s subjective experiences and self-awareness, which is consistent with the wisdom of Taoism, according to Chen.

Taijiquan also features interplay between movement and stillness, emptiness and reality, opening and closing, and rigidity and gentleness, which is “a perfect embodiment of harmonious coexistence and unity in diversity,” he says.